She walks into a room And you know from her Maddening pose, effortless whirl, She's the special girl.

The list for the day isn't bad. I like this being on top of housework kind of thing. It makes my days SO much easier!

- Laundry (remember our word? Sisyphean?)
- Exercise (my knees have been acting up so I need to do my physical therapy stuff)
- Diapers
- Kitchen Exploration (I'm going to see just how much High Fructose Corn Syrup we eat)
- 2 Chore Cards (have I mentioned these?)


Franklin has been quite a talker today. I'm hoping that means he's getting close to actually using words. He has a lot to say for someone that can't say real words! ;-)

Well, off to change a wet diaper and sip my coffee!

New dining area, to do list, and a cute kid

Pretty, huh? It took my all morning because my apartment isn't level! Yes, I'm serious...*sigh* It looks pretty though.


My list isn't too bad today...

- Hang art (done!)
- Fold Diapers
- Laundry
- Dishes (done)
- Declutter Bar Area (also known as the catch all)
- Clean Master Bath

I'll probably do more things...but the baby is napping at the moment!

My son slept for 5 straight hours last night. Technically, that's sleeping through the night. I'm SO excited! And, I didn't wake up engorged and in pain so I guess it's time. He's so sweet.

Do you see that attitude? ADORABLE

If you think you're getting away I will prove you wrong

"Murder on the Dancefloor" by the way


Let's kick off Monday the right way!

The time change has SCREWED ME UP. It's almost 10am? No!!! My morning is almost over already. Stupid time change. Ben Franklin, this is a punishable sin.


Of course, we have the basic stuff to get done today:
- Dishes
- Laundry
- pick up baby toys
- Kitchen

I've also made "chore cards" for myself. I took a stack of index cards and put a chore on each one. It could be a basic chore (like one of the above), the name of a room (master bath, guest bedroom, etc...), or have a single task on it (wipe 5 surfaces, sweep, organize one drawer, declutter one room, go through one box in storage, etc...) Basically, anything that needs to be done in the house. I'm pretty much on top of the housework (for the first time in MONTHS) so I find myself standing around going, "Now what?" too often. That's where the cards come in. After getting the basics done ( or my list of MUST DO) I shuffle the cards and flip one over. After completing the task I either 1) Do another (if it was a short and simple one like sweep or dust) or 2) Take a short break (for longer tasks like organize a room) If I've already done it (a daily task) or can't do it for some reason (I can't declutter the guest room because I don't have the space in storage) then I flip the next card.

Go clean!

Tuesday To Do

But first, a public service announcement...
If you make Empanadas (meat in pie dough...SO GOOD) do not use Phyllo Dough. You might think, "It's pastry dough, close enough." You'd be wrong. It has the consistency of tissue paper. This does not go away with preparation. Once cooked it either feels like regular paper or wet paper. Not cool.

Okay, now that you know I bombed dinner last night :) we can get to the list for the day.

- small laundry (just a few things I want to pack)

- Clean guest bath (because I didn't do it yesterday)

- Pack (for real this time)

- Diapers

- Dishes

- Fold clean laundry

- Put away laundry!

- Shave (yes, this has to be put on a list)

- Kitchen

- Wipe 5 surfaces with a disinfectant cloth


Such is my day and then we're OFF ON VACATION SUCKERS!!!

"This is the same as where I just came from, I thought it was over, Aw that's just great."

 

 

It just never ends. See everything I did yesterday? Good work, right? NOT GOOD ENOUGH!!! :) Nah, I don't have much I have to do today.

- My Sisyphean task (laundry) I MUST wash Stefan's ABU hats today.

- Dishes (put them up. Hubby was nice enough to load and run them last night)

- Put up clean diapers (yep, left them there ALL NIGHT)

- Clean Guest Bath

- Finish Master Bedroom (make the bed, declutter, take a photo so you can see my before and after)

- Pre-pack

- Clean the stove top (I just wiped it yesterday)

- Dinner prep

- Pick up living room

- Fold grocery bags so they aren't all over said living room



I just finished my cup of coffee so I should be ready soon. Let's Go!!! .....after a word from our sponsor.

Some Kind Of Sunday

Today was quite the day for cleaning. I got my wonderful husband in on the fun! We busted butt today. I took before and after photos to prove it! I'll put up the list along with the photos for each room.

KITCHEN

 

 

This was one of the cleaner rooms in the house. Scared yet? LOL

- Wipe counters and appliances
- Sweep floor
- Vacuum pantry (you can't see it...but it was full of dead ants)
- Dishes
- Declutter

 

  

Much better.

BATHROOM

 

- Wipe toilet, sink, tub
- Sweep floor
- Clean mirror
- Declutter
- Organize closet

 

BEDROOM
(Photos to come. The sheets are still washing so it's not finished.)
- Strip bed and wash sheets
- Declutter
- Vacuum
- Wipe windows
- Dust

LIVING ROOM

 

I was hesitant to even post these...it was SO BAD

- Fold Blankets
- Pick up floor (a large task)
- Vacuum
- Declutter
- Laundry (that first photo has clean laundry all over the table and floor)

 

So, it's not perfect, but it's much much better. The middle photo has clean diapers on the table...they haven't been put up yet. (That last one is Daddy and Franklin watching Red Dwarf )

We also got some light grocery shopping done, paid bills, and got some stuff for the trip.

You'd think I'd be done for the week right? You'd be wrong!
Tomorrow:
- Clean guest bathroom (it barely gets used so it's a quick wipe down)
- Pre-pack
- More laundry (It never ENDS)


So YAY for cleaning days! And thanks for letting me share my home with you!

 

 Like I'd close the blog without a shot of the cute kid!

So baby I hope that you came prepared; I run a tight ship, so beware

That's right. I used a Britney Spears lyric as the title. What of it?

Today was a family day so I got NOTHING done (well, dishes...but whatever)

Tomorrow, however, I'm hitting the ground running.

This is my MUST DO list:

- Pre-pack (we're going out of state this week)

- Shopping
-Grocery
-Walmart
-Mall

- Laundry

- Load of diapers

- Vacuum Pantry Cupboards (dead ants)

- General pickup and wipedown

- Vacuum Master Bedroom

- Wash sheets

- Stefan study

- Take out trash and empty boxes 



Not so bad, right? Well, my Moxie Inspiration updated with a room by room list! Oh dear Lord help us all. :)

Plan of attack: Just GO and get things done and then bust butt at home. What's on your list?

Welcome back to the age of jive!

That's right. I like older music. (That's a line from Billy Joel's It's Still Rock and Roll To Me) It's on my cleaning music list.

So, I've got the coffee going. Got a list workin'. And ready to bust some clutter butt!


First, I have to brag on my son. He's 10 months and is, by far, the cutest kid on the planet.
 

 

Don't argue.

Anyway, the hubby and I were planning on trying to conceive again in a few months. (Well, starting to not worry about it either way) I wanted Franklin to be introduced to the potty because, well, the thought of starting potty training at 3 (the "usual" age) was overwhelming. We use cloth diapers so that helps A LOT. This child hates being wet. When he was younger he would scream like he was being tortured; now he whines and tugs on you to let you know "Hey, something is NOT cool around here." I like that. Disposable diapers are really good at pulling moisture away, but they're too good at it. I believe that most children don't know what it really feels like to be wet until they start potty training. 

The AAP will tell you that you shouldn't introduce potty training until at least 2 years old. Whatever. I know women that do Elimination Communication (infant potty training) from birth and are totally successful in getting their child out of diapers really early. (Sometimes as early as 12 months) It all depends on what you consider "potty training." The ability to stay dry and use somewhere other than your pants? Or the ability to walk in, undress, wipe, etc...? Well duh the latter isn't possible until the child is older. I, however, view it as the former. So we bought a potty chair (we really like the Baby Bjorn "throne" style one) and I've been offering it whenever I can. I offer it right after he wakes up (in the morning and after each nap) and if I can catch him pooping. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. I don't stress. It's mostly to just introduce the idea of "You can go somewhere else." 

So, the bragging: The past few mornings we've started by sitting on the potty chair. And each time he's peed in it! (He usually pees in a diaper AGAIN 15-20mins later...but whatever) And yesterday I caught him pooping and set him on the chair and he finished his poop in the chair! That's right, my 10 month old can use the potty. Be amazed! 

Okay, digression over.

What's on my list today? More freaking laundry. I thought I was almost done (I had enough for a single load. It was awesome) and then I walked the house and gathered dirty laundry.... And I was back to square nothing. So, insert a huge sigh.

- Put away clean laundry

- Fold laundry

- More laundry (I think this is going to be my Sisyphean task...there, you learned a new word today!)

- Sheets if I can

- We got our new furniture moved in yesterday so I need to utilize my new storage space! (which means decluttering the closet)

- Make packing list

- Vacuum the pantry/cupboards (This is going to be on here forever)

 - I have some emails to write

- Quick "once over clean" around the house

So, today isn't that bad. It's funny. Yesterday's list was huge and I got going around 8:30am and worked really hard...and was finished with most of it by 12 noon. I ended up bored for the rest of the afternoon! I'll probably take it a bit slower today. I mean, I like being able to say "I got everything done" but I don't like being bored.

Is it really that early?

 

I've been up for an hour (since 7am) and my friends tell me that's early...*shrug*


Okay, I've been lazy the past few days because I've been sick. It's hard to want to do anything when you've been unable to sleep because your body has this stupid need to cough up a vocal chord. Add in waking up unable to breathe. I think my body is trying to kill me. We shall see.

We got MORE furniture! A computer desk (Yay! We've been using one of those cheap Walmart things. This new one has DRAWERS) and a filing cabinet. I'm SO excited. Now I have storage space. I've been shoving things into the closet...

That means that today I need to clean up. So, I'm making a list (because I do much better when I can physically mark things off) I challenge you to do some of the stuff on my list.

- Dishes

- Wipe down kitchen (waist up clean)

- FINISH LAUNDRY (this one has been on here for a week)

- Wash sheets

- Wash diapers

- Pick up Master Bedroom

- Vacuum said bedroom

- Vacuum living room before moving new furniture into place

- General declutter

- Clean Master Bath

- Quick wipe Guest Bath

- Dust (I noticed I can write my name in the master bedroom...not good)

- Clean kitchen floor



Whew. I think I covered the whole house...


I'll probably get started around 9am...I need my coffee to kick in first!

Do you LOVE your house a little more?

Did it work? I think I'm ending the series because I'm running out of ideas! But it was a really good run!

The weather is crap here AND I'm still sick so I'm not feeling the cleaning today...Ugh